Same game multi meaning: how an SGM is priced and what happens when a leg is void

TAB now shows popular same game multis on match pages in its app, with the latest price and how many punters are on each one. What rarely gets explained is how that price is set. That's where the bookie's margin sits, and it's the part worth five minutes of your time.

What a same game multi is

TAB defines an SGM as two or more selections from the same game or event, combined into a single bet at a single price. Like any multi, every leg has to win. If one leg fails, the whole bet loses, however well the others go.

An NRL slip might have three legs from one match:

• a side to win, the head to head;
• a player from that side to score a try;
• the same side to win by a set margin.

In the AFL, the same idea might be a side to win plus one of its midfielders to have the most disposals. TAB's help pages cover head to head, line, margin, try scorer and most disposals bets. Its FAQ notes that not every market is offered in an SGM.

A popular SGM on a match page tells you what other punters are backing. It doesn't tell you whether the price is fair, and the rest of this page is about how to judge that for yourself.

Why an SGM isn't priced like a normal multi

In a normal multi the legs come from different games, so one result tells you nothing about the others. You multiply the prices, as the odds guide shows. In an SGM the legs come from one game, and they often pull the same way.

TAB says as much in its FAQ: SGM odds are calculated differently because the selections relate to each other. Here is what that means in numbers. The prices below are round examples, not any bookie's market.

Say the home side is $1.50 to win, a 66.7% chance, and its winger is $2.00 to score a try, a 50% chance. As two unrelated bets, the double is $3.00, which implies 33.3%.

But they aren't unrelated. When the home side wins, it has often scored more tries, so its winger's chance goes up. Suppose it rises to 60% in the games the home side wins. Both legs then land 66.7% times 60%, or 40% of the time, and the fair price is $2.50, not $3.00.

So when legs pull together, a fair SGM price has to be shorter than the multiplied price. When they pull apart, say the home side to win and the away winger to score, the joint chance falls, and the fair price can be longer than the multiplied one.

Where the margin sits

With a normal multi you can check the price yourself: multiply the legs and compare. With an SGM you can't. Only the bookie knows how closely it thinks the legs are linked, and its price rolls that estimate and its margin into one number.

Go back to my example, where $2.50 is fair. A bookie showing $2.30 for those two legs pays about 8% less than fair. One showing $2.45 pays about 2% less. On the slip, both look like a normal price for a $10 bet: $23.00 back or $24.50 back.

The margin also stacks with every leg, the same way it does in a normal multi. A six-leg SGM carries a bigger share of the bookie's cut than a two-leg one, even before any linking between the legs.

What happens when a leg is void

A leg that loses and a leg that's void are two different things. One losing leg loses the whole SGM, the same as in any multi. A void leg is one the bookie cancels under its rules, and each bookie writes those rules itself.

TAB's answer is the one to know if you bet there: if one selection in your SGM is voided, your stake is refunded. You get your money back rather than a smaller price on the legs that are left.

If that SGM sits inside a bigger all-up multi, TAB recalculates the all-up odds with the remaining legs. Other bookies handle void legs their own way, so read the rules page of the bookie you use before you build a long slip.

TAB's SGM rules at a glance

These come from TAB's Same Game Multi FAQ, checked on 29 September 2026. Other bookies set their own limits, so treat this as one bookie's rules, not an industry standard.

The pre-game rule lines up with the law. In-play sports betting is on ACMA's list of services banned online under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. So an SGM on an NRL or AFL match is a bet you place before kick-off or the first bounce.

SGMs inside a bigger multi, and at the races

At TAB you can drop an SGM into a normal all-up multi and add singles from other games or races. Each SGM leg counts toward the 20-leg limit for the whole multi.

Racing has its own version. TAB's same race multi lets you pick up to four runners across the top four places in one race, at a single price, with at least two selections. TAB prices it differently from a standard multi for the same reason: the runners in one race relate to each other.

At TAB a scratched runner refunds a same race multi, and it can't be cashed out. The horse wagering guide covers the tote, place terms and the exotic bets that sit beside it.

How I'd use a same game multi

I treat an SGM as a small bet on a game I've already priced, not a way to chase a big number. Two or three legs I have a view on beat six legs I picked because the slip looked tidy.

For the head to head leg, I start from my own number. The calculator on the NRL tips page gives my price for both sides of any matchup, so I know what the win leg is worth before any bookie adds a margin to it.

Before I add a leg, I ask whether it's linked to the others. Linked legs shorten the price, so stacking a side to win with its own try scorer adds less than it looks. How I build a multi leg by leg is on NRL multi tips and AFL multi tips.

Set a deposit limit with your bookie before you start. If you'd like a break, BetStop blocks you from every licensed Australian online and phone gambling provider, and registering takes about 5 minutes. Free support, including Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858, is on the responsible gambling page.

Harrison Yeo

Tips, ratings and prices for NRL and AFL

Published 29 September 2026 · Last checked 29 September 2026

What I did for this page: read TAB's Same Game Multi and Same Race Multi FAQs line by line and worked the pricing example by hand (checked 29 September 2026). Not done yet: the same rules at other licensed bookies, and a live SGM price check against my own numbers once the 2027 season starts.

How I tip · Sources for this page · How we make money. A bookie's commission doesn't change my ratings, my prices or the order of bookies.

Read next

• How betting odds work: prices, chances and multis
• Horse wagering explained: tote, place terms and exotics
• NRL multi tips: building a multi leg by leg
• AFL multi tips: legs, prices and the margin
• Licensed bookies compared for footy